As far as I can recall, I’ve only really pressed my luck once when it has come to fly fishing in blizzards. To be fair, I was fishing the Lake Erie tributaries. Not only are the lake effect weather patterns erratic, but combat fishing for steelhead* puts you in an unstable state of mind. After …
For most fly fishers, their reel isn’t what they think about with great detail until something goes horribly wrong. It locks up. It starts making a weird sound. The screw holding the handle falls into the river, with the handle soon following suit. Modern fly reels are incredibly resilient. But an ounce of prevention between …
I only lived in Pennsylvania for seven years. But the quantity and quality of the angling I squeezed in during grad school and my first career was remarkable. Primarily focusing on spring creeks, with the overwhelming majority of the time on three in particular, I can’t fathom how many days of my life were spent …
You’re never going to look back, excited about the mornings you slept in. It will never be the half-way, B- for effort fishing that you’ll remember. It will always be the mornings when the coffee couldn’t come soon enough. The times when you had to wait and watch the minutes tick by before you could …
I love fly fishing. I also love books. I don’t have to work very hard to convince myself, or anyone else for that matter, that these two things go together quite well. There are many new and good books out there. Hopefully they are available at your local fly shop; they are definitively within reach …
The resounding success of the recent Casting Across Fly Fishing Podcast episodes entitled Cast1 has reminded me how important it is to communicate and consume the most essential aspects of fly fishing. This initial 9-part series was curated for those interested in fly fishing and those who may have recently started. But early on, it …
For most fly anglers, the most exciting piece of gear to shop for and purchase is the rod. Any conscientious buyer will understandably go through a relatively rigorous process of determining what to trust with his money and his prospective fish. In my years writing Casting Across, teaching casting, guiding, and selling rods, questions about …
Maybe you’ve never had a fly fishing injury. But there is a good chance that if you’ve had an injury, it has impacted your fly fishing. Today I’m sharing three articles that deal with a relatively obscure, but certainly important, aspect of fly fishing. Physical health is a necessary part of fly fishing. While you …
I can cast just fine. Why would I need a lesson from someone else? Professional golfers have swing coaches. Veteran quarterbacks go to training camp. World-class marathon runners get input on their stride dynamics. So even if you’re not fly fishing with the hopes of ending up on a Wheaties box, you can’t say that …
Fly fishing means a lot to me. I genuinely, truly enjoy being outdoors chasing fish with a fly rod. Make no mistake about that. And I am so appreciative of the experiences and opportunities that fly fishing has afforded me. Most recently, with Casting Across. But over the past 25 years I have met remarkable …
